Okay the final challenge and according to the small print on the image file it has to be a picture of me. The previous Challenge Entries: Ten Secrets, Nine Loves, Eight Fears, Seven Wants, Six Places, Five Foods, Four Books, Three Films and Two Songs.

This is a poetry, photo and TTC blog and I hope that’s how it remains. No matter if I ever stop any of those three things.

Despite the number of images I’ve taken and the small proportion that have made it on to here, there aren’t really any pics of me. I think in the About Me section there might be a distance shot of me but for the culmination of my challenge, I shall reveal the truth.

Having read the Stork Diaries’ blog on those remaining in the “trenches“, this is the only time I will do this. I have managed to get out of the trench and am crossing No Man’s Land as we speak. I still worry daily that I won’t make it to the other side.

I still have regular thoughts on TTC and I still consider myself infertile.

However, other than this entry and the One Picture, this blog is about TTC not actually succeeding. There’ll be another blog for that. Maybe.

Here is me:

Me, six months pregnant.

I have one more blog post as part of the TTC journey that resulted in the above picture, it’s about the 7 week scan.

Now for two songs, both of which are guaranteed to get me up and dancing, or at least put a smile on my face. This is quite tricky because I love to sing (I can’t, but I love to try) and so many songs have important meanings for different reasons, but I will go with:

When September Ends – Green Day. When it was released over here, my boyfriend of the time (now my husband) was in the Navy and stationed away. He was due home at the beginning of October, otherwise known as the end of September.

I Touch Myself – The Divinyls. I have no idea how this became the song for me and one of my bestest friends, but somehow it did and we’d ring each other whilst out and sing it, we’d leave voicemails on my work phone when out together, we now text each other the words.

I’m going to give my top four books but to avoid simply putting my favourite four Harry Potter books, it’s only one by any author.

My fourth favourite is by Mark Giminez – The Colour of Law. I’d never read anything by Giminez nor a legal type book when I got this book for free and I really doubted that I’d like it. I was so wrong, I loved it! Maybe only because I’m new to that genre, but I had no idea how A. Scott was going to get away with it. I had no idea who had killed the murder victim. And the solution had been staring me in the face. D’oh. I’ve read the sequel and liked it, but haven’t loved some of his other books.

At number three it has to be Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly. It’s the second in currently a trilogy (after Seven Ancient Wonders and before Five Greatest Warriors). It’s written in the same style as the other two and follows the amazing Jack West Jr. These books are like action films written down. Sentences end mid-way, chapters have cliffhangars and end as a scene on the screen would. There are explosions, there are deaths of “main cast”. Fantastic reads. I give this one as my favourite of the three (and I love Reilly’s Shane Schofield novels, too) simply for the cliffhangar which I read on holiday without internet access and had no idea if there was going to be a 5th.

At number two, I’m going to be controversial and put Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I guess controversial because other HPs are put above DH and because it’s not at my number one slot! I love DH because it’s the culmination of the series, because it has all the pay offs, because it’s so intelligent and planned. Hello? The 3 deathly hallows have been there from when, book freaking one? That’s planning. I happened to read all of the books in one summer so it wasn’t like the culmination of years for me, but it was the ending to so many characters that I had read “grow up”. It’s also the best one for making me cry. As for why it’s not at number one, it’s all told from Harry’s POV and I don’t always like being stuck in one person’s head.

A book (series) that doesn’t stick with one head and makes it to my number one is A Song of Ice and Fire: A Feast For Crows. The 4th in currently 5 (I have yet to read the 5th) of a fantasy series that was the first fantasy series I have ever read. I fell in love with the new HBO show first, but quickly consumed the first four books. It’s probably a cop out with me picking the most recent I’ve read, but I can’t say for definate exactly what happens in each book. I’m also hindered because I have books 3 and 5 as two parters. Book one, I found boring to the reason that I had literally just watched it and the show is so true to the books, it was difficult to read. I found book two difficult to begin with because it introduced all of these new characters that I was suddenly supposed to be invested in. But then I got into it and ploughed straight into the third (first part). Until I read an unfortunate spoiler and didn’t want to read any further. The second half of book 3 was fantastic, I read it in a few days.

The reason for book 4 though (and not just because it’s the most recent), is quite simply that it followed only half-ish the main characters of books 1-3 and they weren’t my favourite characters. I started book four and realised at some point that I hadn’t seen anything of my faves, then realised I was over half way through it. The fact that George RR Martin got me over half way through a book with none of my favourite, most loved characters is out standing. He took characters that had been there all along, but had never been point of view, and made you understand them. I’m only holding out on the 5th because I don’t want the ride to stop yet and there’s no publication date for book 6 yet.

Now for six places – I’m going with places that mean something significant to me:

Egypt – the place I went on honey moon and loved every second

Greece – I group all the places I’ve been to in Greece as one, because they’re all significant for the same reason: History

My hometown – where I’ve lived for the majority of my life and never want to leave. It’s where I was born, where I grew up, where everything signifcant to ever happen to me happened. Oh, and there’s sea nearby and everything is walkable without it being a tiny village where everyone knows me.

Milton Keynes – I first went there in maybe 2004 or 2005 for a convention (I’m a sci-fi, tv and film geek) and I fell in love with the place. Other people may hate the roundabouts, but I love the street layouts and the shopping is fantastic

New York – because I went there on a girlie holiday and did the most amazing sight seeing without ever panicing that my husband wasn’t there to protect me

Malta – From the age of 2-16 I went to the same place every single summer and loved it. I did the sights, but was far too young and carefree to remember or be concerned with them. Must go again.

Persephone's Musings

Sometimes, I take photos. Sometimes, I write poems. Sometimes, I just blabber on. I've dealt with loss and desire for the mundane. Most of the time I work through it. Or I photograph it. Or write a poem about it.

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All poetry contained within this poetry blog is property of Muse Persephone. Images linked from Flickr to here are also copyrighted to Muse Persephone unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved and any reproduction of the works within is strictly prohibited.